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Writers: Searching Through the Job Ads is not Marketing

By Ugur Akinci | December 1, 2009

© Ugur Akinci Generally speaking, we writers are not good at marketing our services. We love what we do and yet expect to be “discovered” and paid well for it too. Think again. This blog entry was prompted by an email from an obviously-very-qualified reader who asked whether she needs to get a technical writing…

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Finding Your Way Back: Re-Entering the Science Work Force

By Ugur Akinci | November 26, 2009

(Excerpts) By Brianna Blaser In the idealized career path, a scientist goes straight from earning an undergraduate degree to graduate school, and then on to a postdoc and eventual employment, without breaks between positions. For various reasons, however, not all scientists’ career paths are nearly so linear. Although the most common reason scientists might leave…

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Differences Between Different Guides

By Ugur Akinci | November 23, 2009

Introduction Some of my readers asked the differences between three types of technical documents used frequently in the software-hardware sector: User Guide,  Startup Guide, and Quick Reference Guide. Sometimes the demarcation line gets blurred, especially if you’re new in the business. User Guide A USER GUIDE is the easiest to define: it’s the “bible” of…

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When the Form Does not Fit the Content – A Classical Information Design Problem

By Ugur Akinci | November 3, 2009

FORM and CONTENT are two wings of the same bird. When one of them fail, the bird does not fly — or flies in circles.To make sure the two fit one another perfectly is a very old problem and challenge in information design and marketing. Sometimes the challenge is met through resorting to “genres.” Genres…

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